Asda appoints Roger Burnley as new president and CEO

He will succeed current chief executive Sean Clarke who has held the position since July 2016. In a statement, the company said Clarke will be “taking some time out” but will “remain engaged” with Walmart.

Burnley returned to Asda as chief operating officer and deputy chief executive in October 2016 and at the time was identified as a future chief executive.

Dave Cheesewright, chief executive of Walmart International, said: “Roger was purposefully brought back to Asda to partner with Sean ahead of the transition to Roger taking up the position of CEO. He and Sean have worked as a great team and I’m really confident in Roger’s ability to continue building upon our returning momentum.”

Clarke will remain Asda’s chief executive until 31 December and will work closely with Burnley to ensure a smooth transition.

Cheesewright added: “After more than 21 years with the company, Sean has worked across five international markets including serving as president and CEO of Walmart China and obviously here in the UK too. He’s continually shown the ability to lead critical transformation and the last 15 months are no exception.”